Big Ten Defenses to Rely Heavily on Underclassmen in 2014, Will It Be an Issue?

To some, the beauty of college football comes in the yearly changes that are forced by graduation and players heading off to the NFL.

With names like Chris Borland, Ryan Shazier, Bradley Roby, Max Bullough, DarquezeDennard and a host of others off to the NFL or graduated, the landscape of Big Ten defenses is about to change.

One look at depth charts and names of others producing in the Big Ten this past year gives us a clue that this conference is about to go through a huge youth movement.

Every team is losing at least one senior starter or players off to the NFL, and most are losing some very significant parts.

Big Ten Defensive Losses

East Teams

Starters Lost

Indiana

1

Maryland

2

Michigan

4

Michigan State

6

Ohio State

3

Penn State

3

Rutgers

6

West Teams

Starters Lost

Illinois

2

Iowa

5

Minnesota

4

Nebraska

5

Northwestern

3

Purdue

5

Wisconsin

7

OurLads.com Depth Charts

That could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what kind of experience that youth has. One has to wonder: Will it be growing pains or could the youth be talented enough to make a difference in major roles in 2014?

The biggest indicator of just how good the conference could be in 2014 is that a lot of freshmen made huge impacts this past season, when seniors and talented upperclassmen were supposed to rule the B1G.

Names like Joey Bosa and Vonn Bell showed up big at Ohio State, while Sojourn Shelton and Desmond King made significant impacts at cornerback for Wisconsin and Iowa respectively (and that's just to name a few).

Nearly every team has a 2014 sophomore that has the potential to be a big name in the conference this season. Here is a quick look at some of the more likely names to contribute based on production and positions in the two-deep last year.

Sophomores on Big Ten Defenses

East Division

Players

Indiana

Raphael Green, DT; Darius Latham, DT; T.J. Simmons, LB

Maryland

William Likely, CB; Roman Braglio, DE; Yannick Ngakoue, LB

Michigan

Dymonte Thomas, CB; Willie Henry, DT; Chris Wormley, LB

Michigan State

Darian Harris, CB; Demetrious Cox, FS; Jermaine Edmondson, CB

Ohio State

Joey Bosa, DE; Tyvis Powell, CB; Vonn Bell, CB

Penn State

Brian Gaia, DT; Gary Wooten, LB; Nyeem Wartman, LB

Rutgers

Anthony Cioffi, CB; Delon Stephenson, CB

West Division

Players

Illinois

DeJazz Woods, LB; T.J. Neal, LB

Iowa

Desmond King, CB; Reggie Spearman, LB; Anthony Gair, S

Minnesota

Nick Rallis, LB; Jalen Myrick, DB

Nebraska

Greg McMullen, DE; Vincent Valentine, DT; D.J. Singleton, S

Northwestern

Matthew Harris, CB; Dwight White, CB; Greg Kuhar, DT

Purdue

Evan Panfil, DE; Leroy Clark, CB; Austin Logan, S

Wisconsin

Sojourn Shelton, CB; Nate Hammon, S

OurLads.com

One look at this list should be all you need in order to know just how important the sophomore class could be to the Big Ten this year.

Yet, that is only one-half of the equation for the B1G's youth movement in 2014. The other part involves this upcoming class of freshmen.

Recruiting on the defensive side has become more about speed, and the conference is attracting some of the top defensive talent in the country because of it.